W L Pct GB
Victoria ..... 4 1 .800 —
Lewiston ..... 6 3 .667 —
Tri-City ..... 5 3 .625 ½
Yakima ....... 4 3 .571 1
Edmonton ..... 4 4 .500 1½
Salem ........ 3 4 .429 2
Vancouver .... 2 3 .400 2
Wenatchee .... 1 8 .111 1
VANCOUVER [Clancy Loranger, Province, July 15]—Vancouver baseball fans who have been watching Pete Hernandez for three seasons now keep wondering what he’s doing here. They’re happy to have him, mind you, but the mystery is why he doesn’t stick in the Coast League.
It looked for a time, this season, as if Peter, always a winner here, had left us for good. It seemed as if he was with Seattle’s Coast League team to stay.
But a few weeks ago Hernandez rejoined the Caps, and ever since the fans have been wondering—why? In his last appearance here, Pete clinched a three-hit shutout that clinched the first-half championship for the Capilanos.
Wednesday Hernandez, who seems to be throwing hard this year than ever, was at the top of his form again. He gave up six singles and struck out 12—possibly the high for this year in the league—as the Caps downed Wenatchee 7-1 to take the series, two games to one.
SPOIL SHUTOUT
The Chiefs put together two of their hits with a sacrifice fly in the fourth to spoil Pete’s shutout. Meanwhile the Caps were looking a little more like the Caps they’re supposed to be. Of the nine hits they got off Billy Joe Waters, six of them were for extra bases—four doubles, a triple, and Bob Wellman’s 17th home run.
DIAMOND DUST—Arnie Hallgren, who made his professional pitching debut in Salem recently when the Caps ran out of pitchers, and produced a three-hit victory, will get his first home start tonight when Lewiston Broncs open a four-game stand … Hallgren is just as fast as Hernandez and just wild enough to keep the batters from getting too much of a toe hold.
Province Stars—Pete Hernandez, whose record is now 2-1 … Bob Wellman, whose home run was still rising when it disappeared … And the Chiefs’ Ross McCormack, always tough in Cap Stadium.
[WIL fan notes: Jim Clark tripled in a pair of Caps … Wellman’s homer was a solo shot. He also had a sacrifice fly]
Wenatchee ...... 000 100 000—1 6 2
Vancouver ....... 100 310 02x—7 9 0
Waters and Helmuth; Hernandez and Pesut.
VICTORIA [Jim Tang, Colonist, July 15]—Victoria Tyees regained sole possession of the second-half lead in the WIL last night at Royal Athletic Park by scoring four runs in the ninth inning to defeat the Lewiston Broncs, 7-4, in a sparkling game.
Victory, fourth in five second-half games and sixth in their last eight starts, broke a tie with the Broncs for the lead and gave the Tyees the series from the dangerous Idaho club, 2-1.
Catcher Don Lundberg, who shows no inclination to give up the job he took over when Milt Martin suffered a back injury several weeks ago, shared the honors with pitcher John Tierney last night as he poled his 12th home run, sixth as a Tyee, far over the fence with two on and two out in the ninth inning to break a 4-4 tie.
FIRST PITCH
Lundberg connected on the first pitch served up to him by John Marshal to win another round in his feud with the big righthander, his rival in the mix-up at Lewiston last month. Lundberg also hit two singles to boost his batting average as a Tyee to .299.
Up until the ninth inning, Marshall was getting slightly the best of it in a mound battle with Tierney, making his second start and going the distance for the second time for his second win in two decisions.
Marshall got a two-run lead in the first inning, a three-run lead in the fourth and a 4-3 edge in the eighth but he was weakening fast after having a shutout for five innings.
Tierney, showing a lot of poise, pitched a fine game. Two bases on balls, an infield out and a single by Clint Cameron cost him two runs in the first inning and an error on a thrown ball lost in the sun cost him an unearned run in the fourth. He doled out seven hits over five innings, struck out five and walked four and appeared to be in charge all the way. He also singled in a run to bring the count to 3-2 in the sixth.
Tom Perez ended Marshall’s shutout hopes in the sixth when he led off with his 15th home run. Singles by Lundberg and Tierney around a wild pitch scored Victoria’s second run.
The Tyees should have won it in the seventh. Pries led off with a triple and scored on a single by Dain Clay. Neil Sheridan reached with the second of his three hits and when Marshall bobbled Perez’ sacrifice bunt, the Tyees had the bags loaded and no one out. But Eddie Lake skied out and Lundberg hit into a double play.
Trailing by a run as the ninth starter, the Tyees saw manager Pries again get things going by drawing a base on balls. Clay bunted him along, a passed ball put him at third, and Sheridan’s short single tied it up.
Perez was walked intentionally and Lake again flew out. But this time Lundberg made no mistake.
Wenatchee Chiefs move into town for three games and plans have been made for special entertainment which should bring out a good crowd for ‘British Empire Games Night.’
In addition to the appearance of swimmer Flo Chadwick, fans will watch the Tyees and Shamrocks tangled in a pre-game game of something in which both clubs will use their regular equipment.
Archie Browning and Jack Bionda will do the pitching for the lacrosse team and ‘bat’ fourth and fifth, respectively. Alan Gill leads off the batting order and plays left field for the Rocks, Jack Sibbald, centre field; Nip O’Hearn, shortstop; Browning, Bionda, Jackie Northup, third base; Jack Thompson, right field; Bill Bamford, second base, and Whitey Severson, catcher, complete the Shamrock line-up. Geordy Johnston and Arnie Ferguson are listed as available for duty.
Lewiston ...... 200 100 010—4 7 1
Victoria ....... 000 002 104—7 12 1
Marshall and Garay; Tierney and Lundberg.
SALEM [Tri-City Herald, July 14]—The Tri-City Braves and the Salem Senators wind up what is proving to be a rather disastrous series for Tri-Clty today at Salem's Waters Park with the Braves needing a win to salvage any part of the three-game set.
The Braves lost the second game there Wednesday night, 6-3, with all three of their runs coming in a belated rally in the top of the ninth.
Don Robertson took the loss, his fourth against 12 wins. Walt Clough is likely starter tonight.
Robertson didn't yield any more runs than the opposition scored off him Wednesday. After giving up single runs in the second, third and sixth innings, Robertson was taken out for a pinchhitter in the top of the eighth.
Salem then scored three more runs off the pitching of Dale Thomason and Bill Tompkins.
Meanwhile, Salem pitcher Bill Franks, who was "sold" to the Senators by Cap Manager Bill (Share the Wealth) Brenner, gave up three hits.
Salem manager Hugh Luby apparently was a little queezy of Tri-City's ninth inning rallies be cause when Franks gave up a leadoff single to Terry Carroll in the top of the ninth, that was all for Franks.
Jose Rayle took over and walked Vic Buccola. Playing manager Edo Vanni singled scoring Carroll and Tri-City's other two runs came in on successive ground outs.
Tri-City ......... 000 000 003—3 6 0
Salem ........... 011 001 03x—6 11 1
Robertson, Thomason (8), Tompkins (8) and Johnson; Franks, Rayle (9) and D. Luby.
EDMONTON, July 14—Herman Lewis pounded a two-run homer and a triple for Yakima but it wasn't enough as Edmonton Eskimos used 14 hits to outlast the Bears 10-6 Wednesday night in WIL baseball.
The Eskimos hopped on Danny Rios for four runs in the eighth to put the game out of
reach after Yakima had tied it with a two-run outburst in the top of the fifth inning. Vern Campbell homered, tripled and singled for Edmonton, who took a 2-0 lead in the series.
Yakima .......... 002 020 020— 6 12 2
Edmonton ...... 031 010 14x—10 14 1
Young, Lovrich (4), Rios (8) and Summers; Widner, Manier (6), Kimball (9) and Partee.
Vanni, Vic Fined $15
[Tri-City Herald, July 15, 1954]
Tri-City's playing manager Edo Vanni and first baseman Vic Buccola were fined $15 each this week by league president Bob Abel as an outgrowth of the dispute with ump Mel Steiner last week In the Edmonton series.
Vanni was kicked out of the game but Buccola played it out.
The dispute came after Buccola "started to swing but pulled back" on two pitches. Steiner called both of them strikes.
The fine is not unusual for playing manager Vanni but a bit rare for Buccola.
Sports Notes
BY GIL GILMORE
[Tri-City Herald, July 15, 1954]
The most sought item at Sanders Field nowadays is a pitcher.
“We got to have more pitching strength,” Eddie Taylor, the G.M. said recently. “But where we going to get one?”
Eddie said he has some money for a hurler this time. Previously, whenever a pitcher was loose around the league, Tri-City had nothing to make the purchase with even if they had wanted to buy one.
“After the last few weekends, we are slightly in the black,” Eddie said. “Not much, though. We will make this payroll easily enough but there is always the next and
the next.”
Tri-City’s pitching difficulties seem to run in cycles. When the season first started, Dale Bloom was going great guns and Jess Dobernic couldn’t win for losing.
Now Jess is going strong and Dale has arm trouble.
Walt Clough got off to a poor start, then came around strong, but now seems to have trouble going the distance. Dale Thomason runs hot and cold, yanking up a four-hitter, then being pounded out in two or three innings.
It’s too early to tell just what Jack Hemphill will do. If he pitches the rest of the season the way he did against Edmonton, he should win more than half his games easily enough. Despite being out of baseball almost a half a season, he still went the distance which is an important factor right now.
Jack was released earlier this season when he was supposed to have a sore arm. After the game against Edmonton, he was asked if the arm gave him any trouble.
“Heck, no,” he said. “That arm cleared up the day after I got my release.”
* * *
Robertson Cruises Along
And the last hurler in the lineup, Don Robertson, flows along like a river combining pitching skill and remarkable luck to win game after game. A good example was his
most recent win when he went to the dugout three runs down and with Tri-City having but one time left at bat.
That was the night Tri-City rallied and Rube Johnson stepped in, pinchhit for Robertson, and clouted the game-winning homer.
* * *
Sometimes They Produce More
Off of Tri-City pitchers and onto pitching in general. Why is it that time after time, a guy goes out, gives up one or two runs, and loses, while the next hurler gives up seven or eight runs game after game and his teammates get him 10.
In a dugout discussion on this topic, Bob Moniz ventured the opinion that when players have a pitcher they know is going to yield lots of runs, they really go out after them.
“Why I remember up at Victoria in 1952,” Bob said, “Jehosie Heard would go out there and everyone figured, Heard will hold ‘em. So we wouldn’t be able to hit worth a darn. But when Ben Lorino was on the mound, we knew we had to get some runs to win and went after ‘em.”
During that season, Heard had an earned run average of 2.94. He won 20 and lost 12. Lorino had an ERA of 3.38 and won 24 and lost 7.
* * *
He Really Meant To Hit Nick
Bouncing back to Hemphill, the ex-Salem pitcher reveals the story behind the pitch which touched off the “Big Bear rassle” in the 1953 season.
The ruckus started when one of Hemphill’s pitchers [sic] hit Tri-City catcher Nick Pesut in his backside. Nick then charged after Hemphill and everyone got into the act.
Recently Jack was asked if he meant to hit Pesut.
“Meant to hit him?” Jack replied. “You bet I meant to hit him. There was going to be a $10 fine if I didn't.”
* * *
Managers Come From Right
A recent story points out that the American Association managers could field a representative team by fielding themselves in the lineup. The eight pilots have played in eight different positions.
Which brings up the question of how would a similar deal work in the Western International league. Well, not too good.
Working the right side of the diamond seems to be the best way to become a manager in the WIL.
Fact is, you couldn’t even drum up a good all-manager game against some other team this year with out having half of them play out of their accustomed positions.
Of the eight, three are second basemen — Bob Sturgeon of Edmonton,. Hugh Luby of Salem, and Lou Stringer of Yakima — although we’ll concede, anyone of the three would make a pretty good shortstop in the pinch.
But what about first base? Even by shifting Don Preiss [sic] of Victoria to third base, where he plays frequently, we still have George Kelly of Wenatchee and Larry Barton of Lewiston.
The all-manager team could have a one-man battery in Bill Brenner of Vancouver. Brenner was once a catcher until he found that involves a great deal of effort and not nearly as much pay as the pitching. Now he can do a good job either way.
And there are some who will contend that Bill could cut loose with one of his pitches, run to the dugout and don his catcher’s gear, and get back behind the plate before the ball got there.
The all-manager outfield has a definite weakness. The only character available is Tri-City’s Edo Vanni, and judging from the way Edo was hobbling home the other night when he tried to go for four after getting a triple, it isn’t likely that he could patrol an entire outfield for more than an inning.
There’s an advantage, though, in having an outfielder manager. It gives your relief pitcher more time to warm up when you make the long haul from the outfield to the mound before sending a guy to the showers.
“We got to have more pitching strength,” Eddie Taylor, the G.M. said recently. “But where we going to get one?”
Eddie said he has some money for a hurler this time. Previously, whenever a pitcher was loose around the league, Tri-City had nothing to make the purchase with even if they had wanted to buy one.
“After the last few weekends, we are slightly in the black,” Eddie said. “Not much, though. We will make this payroll easily enough but there is always the next and
the next.”
Tri-City’s pitching difficulties seem to run in cycles. When the season first started, Dale Bloom was going great guns and Jess Dobernic couldn’t win for losing.
Now Jess is going strong and Dale has arm trouble.
Walt Clough got off to a poor start, then came around strong, but now seems to have trouble going the distance. Dale Thomason runs hot and cold, yanking up a four-hitter, then being pounded out in two or three innings.
It’s too early to tell just what Jack Hemphill will do. If he pitches the rest of the season the way he did against Edmonton, he should win more than half his games easily enough. Despite being out of baseball almost a half a season, he still went the distance which is an important factor right now.
Jack was released earlier this season when he was supposed to have a sore arm. After the game against Edmonton, he was asked if the arm gave him any trouble.
“Heck, no,” he said. “That arm cleared up the day after I got my release.”
* * *
Robertson Cruises Along
And the last hurler in the lineup, Don Robertson, flows along like a river combining pitching skill and remarkable luck to win game after game. A good example was his
most recent win when he went to the dugout three runs down and with Tri-City having but one time left at bat.
That was the night Tri-City rallied and Rube Johnson stepped in, pinchhit for Robertson, and clouted the game-winning homer.
* * *
Sometimes They Produce More
Off of Tri-City pitchers and onto pitching in general. Why is it that time after time, a guy goes out, gives up one or two runs, and loses, while the next hurler gives up seven or eight runs game after game and his teammates get him 10.
In a dugout discussion on this topic, Bob Moniz ventured the opinion that when players have a pitcher they know is going to yield lots of runs, they really go out after them.
“Why I remember up at Victoria in 1952,” Bob said, “Jehosie Heard would go out there and everyone figured, Heard will hold ‘em. So we wouldn’t be able to hit worth a darn. But when Ben Lorino was on the mound, we knew we had to get some runs to win and went after ‘em.”
During that season, Heard had an earned run average of 2.94. He won 20 and lost 12. Lorino had an ERA of 3.38 and won 24 and lost 7.
* * *
He Really Meant To Hit Nick
Bouncing back to Hemphill, the ex-Salem pitcher reveals the story behind the pitch which touched off the “Big Bear rassle” in the 1953 season.
The ruckus started when one of Hemphill’s pitchers [sic] hit Tri-City catcher Nick Pesut in his backside. Nick then charged after Hemphill and everyone got into the act.
Recently Jack was asked if he meant to hit Pesut.
“Meant to hit him?” Jack replied. “You bet I meant to hit him. There was going to be a $10 fine if I didn't.”
* * *
Managers Come From Right
A recent story points out that the American Association managers could field a representative team by fielding themselves in the lineup. The eight pilots have played in eight different positions.
Which brings up the question of how would a similar deal work in the Western International league. Well, not too good.
Working the right side of the diamond seems to be the best way to become a manager in the WIL.
Fact is, you couldn’t even drum up a good all-manager game against some other team this year with out having half of them play out of their accustomed positions.
Of the eight, three are second basemen — Bob Sturgeon of Edmonton,. Hugh Luby of Salem, and Lou Stringer of Yakima — although we’ll concede, anyone of the three would make a pretty good shortstop in the pinch.
But what about first base? Even by shifting Don Preiss [sic] of Victoria to third base, where he plays frequently, we still have George Kelly of Wenatchee and Larry Barton of Lewiston.
The all-manager team could have a one-man battery in Bill Brenner of Vancouver. Brenner was once a catcher until he found that involves a great deal of effort and not nearly as much pay as the pitching. Now he can do a good job either way.
And there are some who will contend that Bill could cut loose with one of his pitches, run to the dugout and don his catcher’s gear, and get back behind the plate before the ball got there.
The all-manager outfield has a definite weakness. The only character available is Tri-City’s Edo Vanni, and judging from the way Edo was hobbling home the other night when he tried to go for four after getting a triple, it isn’t likely that he could patrol an entire outfield for more than an inning.
There’s an advantage, though, in having an outfielder manager. It gives your relief pitcher more time to warm up when you make the long haul from the outfield to the mound before sending a guy to the showers.
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